Monday, December 24, 2012

Hey SEOUL Sisters! (Day 3)

It's our Day 3 (Nov. 17) in Seoul and there's still so much to do. This day, we're off to Petite France and Nami Island, which were both far from downtown. If you were wondering how we manage to navigate around Seoul, we just did some research and we downloaded the "Subway Korea" application for iOS and Android. It's a very useful app as it calculates the fastest routes and the train fares. It even includes the time table of the train trips so you won't miss the train.

From Hongik University Station, it took us about 2 hrs to get to Cheongpyong Station of the ITX line. Well that already included walking through multiple train transfers. Outside the Cheongpyong Station, we took the City Tour Bus, worth 5,000 won each. That would go through several attractions but we only chose the Petite France and the Nami Island. At Petite France, we paid 8,000 won each for entry. Actually, there's nothing much to do inside. We just saw a France-like community, which we were able to appreciate since we couldn't afford yet to go to the real France haha! There's this cool rock band who performed their own version of Oppa Gangnam Style and I liked it! After 20 minutes of going around, we had lunch at a restaurant there. The average rate per plate was around 9,000 won, which was quite pricey.

at the train station

Petite France

it's cold! brrr...

vanity attacked! lol

make a wish!

my most favorite spot

band performing their own version of Oppa Gangnam Style

watch their performance :)

We missed the bus going to Nami Island. We were just a few minutes late because we were not able to note the time of arrival of the bus written at the brochures given to us. The next bus would arrive after an hour and a half, so we just decided to take a cab. The Nami Island was quite far from Petite France that it cost us around 28,000 won. Yikes! Anyway, Nami Island's entrance starts from the port where the ferry is. That ferry takes the guests to the Nami Island itself, which for marketing purposes they called, Nami Republic. There were lots of tourists of different nationalities there; thus, the long queue at the ticket booth. Admission Fee (5,000 won) and ferry ride (3,000 won) amounted to 8,000 won each. It was just a quick 15-minute ride to get to the island from the mainland. Nami Island has become popular because it was the shooting place of Winter Sonata, one of the most popular Korean dramas. Other than biking and taking photos, there's nothing else to do there. So after 30 minutes, we went back to the mainland.

the ferry to Nami Island

just like a Korean haha

my shot via Instagram

First Kiss Bridge (Winter Sonata)

this was where the First Kiss in the Korean drama, Winter Sonata was shot

Seoul sisters in Nami Island :)

what a relaxing view :)

We waited for the bus to Gapyeong Station of the ITX line and we headed back downtown. We had dinner at a mall in Dongdaemun. I tried their Jjampong and I liked it. Plus we ordered crepes for dessert haha. We shopped a little at the night markets there, then we headed home. But since Dianne and I were a bit bored, we went out for a walk around Hongdae. We discovered a lot of coffee shops, bars/clubs, streetfood stalls, and clothing and accessories shops. We had some spicy chicken skewers and something like a tempura for our streetfood trip. We're not much of risk-takers when it comes to food so we didn't try weird-looking streetfood haha.

Jjampong

i forgot its name :))

Starbucks tumblers

heaven!!! LOL!

it actually tasted good :)

After more than an hour of walking around, we went back to the hotel room and met new housemates who were Filipinos too. They were staying inside the room in front of our room. There are three rooms in Pastel's Guesthouse in Prugio Apartment in Hongdae (the building where Nolita is) and the place is really nice. There are a lot of freebies too -- toiletries, hot/cold water, coffee/tea. Plus, our host, Jimmy (owner of the apartment) is also nice for assisting us with directions and other travel concerns. Check out this link to see how awesome the place is!:)Total spending for the day for 4 pax:Transportation - 47,000 won (subway and cab for 4pax)Gapyeong Tour Bus - 20,000 won (5,000 won each)Lunch - 40,000 won (in Petite France)Dinner - 36,000 won (plus crepes for dessert)TOTAL: 143,000 won = Php 5,470 (or approx. Php 1,368/pax)Day 4 coming up next!:)

Monday, December 24, 2012

Hey SEOUL Sisters! (Day 3)

It's our Day 3 (Nov. 17) in Seoul and there's still so much to do. This day, we're off to Petite France and Nami Island, which were both far from downtown. If you were wondering how we manage to navigate around Seoul, we just did some research and we downloaded the "Subway Korea" application for iOS and Android. It's a very useful app as it calculates the fastest routes and the train fares. It even includes the time table of the train trips so you won't miss the train.

From Hongik University Station, it took us about 2 hrs to get to Cheongpyong Station of the ITX line. Well that already included walking through multiple train transfers. Outside the Cheongpyong Station, we took the City Tour Bus, worth 5,000 won each. That would go through several attractions but we only chose the Petite France and the Nami Island. At Petite France, we paid 8,000 won each for entry. Actually, there's nothing much to do inside. We just saw a France-like community, which we were able to appreciate since we couldn't afford yet to go to the real France haha! There's this cool rock band who performed their own version of Oppa Gangnam Style and I liked it! After 20 minutes of going around, we had lunch at a restaurant there. The average rate per plate was around 9,000 won, which was quite pricey.

at the train station

Petite France

it's cold! brrr...

vanity attacked! lol

make a wish!

my most favorite spot

band performing their own version of Oppa Gangnam Style

watch their performance :)

We missed the bus going to Nami Island. We were just a few minutes late because we were not able to note the time of arrival of the bus written at the brochures given to us. The next bus would arrive after an hour and a half, so we just decided to take a cab. The Nami Island was quite far from Petite France that it cost us around 28,000 won. Yikes! Anyway, Nami Island's entrance starts from the port where the ferry is. That ferry takes the guests to the Nami Island itself, which for marketing purposes they called, Nami Republic. There were lots of tourists of different nationalities there; thus, the long queue at the ticket booth. Admission Fee (5,000 won) and ferry ride (3,000 won) amounted to 8,000 won each. It was just a quick 15-minute ride to get to the island from the mainland. Nami Island has become popular because it was the shooting place of Winter Sonata, one of the most popular Korean dramas. Other than biking and taking photos, there's nothing else to do there. So after 30 minutes, we went back to the mainland.

the ferry to Nami Island

just like a Korean haha

my shot via Instagram

First Kiss Bridge (Winter Sonata)

this was where the First Kiss in the Korean drama, Winter Sonata was shot

Seoul sisters in Nami Island :)

what a relaxing view :)

We waited for the bus to Gapyeong Station of the ITX line and we headed back downtown. We had dinner at a mall in Dongdaemun. I tried their Jjampong and I liked it. Plus we ordered crepes for dessert haha. We shopped a little at the night markets there, then we headed home. But since Dianne and I were a bit bored, we went out for a walk around Hongdae. We discovered a lot of coffee shops, bars/clubs, streetfood stalls, and clothing and accessories shops. We had some spicy chicken skewers and something like a tempura for our streetfood trip. We're not much of risk-takers when it comes to food so we didn't try weird-looking streetfood haha.

Jjampong

i forgot its name :))

Starbucks tumblers

heaven!!! LOL!

it actually tasted good :)

After more than an hour of walking around, we went back to the hotel room and met new housemates who were Filipinos too. They were staying inside the room in front of our room. There are three rooms in Pastel's Guesthouse in Prugio Apartment in Hongdae (the building where Nolita is) and the place is really nice. There are a lot of freebies too -- toiletries, hot/cold water, coffee/tea. Plus, our host, Jimmy (owner of the apartment) is also nice for assisting us with directions and other travel concerns. Check out this link to see how awesome the place is!:)Total spending for the day for 4 pax:Transportation - 47,000 won (subway and cab for 4pax)Gapyeong Tour Bus - 20,000 won (5,000 won each)Lunch - 40,000 won (in Petite France)Dinner - 36,000 won (plus crepes for dessert)TOTAL: 143,000 won = Php 5,470 (or approx. Php 1,368/pax)Day 4 coming up next!:)